


i got help

by kennysspace



Series: almost paradise - part two [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21809497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kennysspace/pseuds/kennysspace
Summary: almost paradise: part two - chapter five of fifteendustin brings someone to help with dart. you're not thrilled with who he manages to find.
Relationships: Steve Harrington/Henderson Reader, Steve Harrington/Reader, Steve Harrington/You
Series: almost paradise - part two [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571503
Kudos: 30





	i got help

this is also being updated to my tumblr. you can find it [here](https://yelennabelova.tumblr.com)

* * *

“Mhm, okay,” Dustin hums into the phone, holding it between the two of you. The dial tone rings through your ears as your mother watches from her place by the front door, desperately clutching her sunglasses and a cat toy.

“Y/N, baby, are you sure she didn’t sneak off into your room?”

You put your hand up in a stopping motion as Dustin continues the charade into the receiver, “Uh huh, okay.” He takes it a step further and gestures for you to pick up the notepad on the end table, pointing to it and muttering, “Write that down!”

You click the pen before quickly scribbling something on it to add to the illusion, and you turn it towards him to read: / _ We’re so screwed/ _ .

Your brother sends you an annoyed sideways glance that luckily gets hidden from your mother, and he brings his other hand up to the phone, “Thank you so much, Mrs. McCorkle. You are a true lifesaver. Okay, buh bye.” 

You both sigh before turning back to your mother as she patiently waits for the news on her beloved pet. It breaks your heart to have to lie to her like this, knowing that her cat is wrapped tightly in a towel on the bottom of your closet. 

“Did they find her?” She asks, sniffling as she takes a step forward, reaching out to you.

“No, no but they saw her,” Dustin answers as you both move to meet her, you fingers wrapping around hers, “She was hanging around Loch Nora.”

Your mom squeezes your hand a touch tighter before laughing with relief, “How’d she get all the way over there?”

You flash her a smile that’s reminiscent of your brother’s, but with your heart thumping in your chest, “I don’t know, she must’ve gotten out last night. But you’ll go help them look?”

She hums and you and Dustin nod, “And I’ll stay here with Dustin in case they call back, yeah?”

“Yeah, of course,” She mutters quickly, not wanting to waste a second that she could be searching. She grabs her purse and her keys before moving to the door and spinning back to you both as she grips the handle, “I love you.”

Dustin blows her a kiss with both hands as she starts to back outside, “And we love you! Better hurry up!”

“I love you kids so much,” She repeats once again and you and Dustin plaster fake joyful expressions onto your faces as you wave to her, “See ya, Mom! Good luck!”

The moment the door shuts, you and your brother scatter to your predetermined positions, adrenaline coursing through your veins. Dustin’s back at the phone, frantically flipping through the phone book for the police station’s number; you’re rushing to the window above the counter to confirm once your mother’s left the property.

“Okay, we’re in the clear!” You shout as soon as her car leaves the driveway. You’re grabbing the cleaning supplies from underneath the sink when Dustin finally enters the room.

“Hopper’s not answering.”

You groan, reaching for the bottle of bleach in the back, “We’ll just have to try him again later.”

“We can’t keep sitting here and doing nothing! We’ve gotta get Dart out of here before he molts again. I’m pretty sure we won’t want to deal with him then,” He replies. You don’t want to admit it, but his words hold a bit of truth to them.

You roll your eyes as you throw down the rubber gloves onto the tile, “Fine, but we’ve gotta prepare first. Go find my old hockey gear for yourself.”

“What will you do?” Dustin asks, brow creasing with confusion at your request. There’s no way he’s letting you do this without properly defending yourself from the inevitable harm.

“I’ve got something, okay? Just meet me back in the living room when you’ve found it.”

His nose scrunches before deciding to trust your judgement and he runs off to the garage. You get up from the floor and move swiftly to your room, pulling your body through on the door jam. 

It’s a hell of a job to avoid tripping over your deceased cat, but you manage to extend your arm  _ /just/  _ far enough; the tips of your fingers come in contact with the cool metal that rests against the wall.

You pull the lead pipe from its position in the back of your closet, cursing when the scissors snagon a t-shirt. 

“Well, so much for that one,” You mutter to yourself. You’ve got bigger problems to worry about, and quickly adjust it in your hands after yanking it free. The weapon hasn’t seen the light of day in almost a year, but you figured that it should be hidden away. Just in case.

“Alright,” Dustin’s voice catches your ears, followed by the sound of something hitting the ground shortly afterwards, “I found it.”

Your head pops up and you go to join him, but his eyes widen at the sight of the weapon in your grasp. Dustin staggers back slightly before wildly gesturing to it, “What the hell is that?”

“I made it.”

“You / _ made/ _ it?” He responds without hesitation, eyes flicking between your face and the pipe every few seconds. And then you realize that you don’t think Dustin ever found out what you’d done that night. Surprisingly, it had slipped your mind with all of the concern with Will.

“Oh, yeah. I don’t think I ever told you,” You say as you relax, the weapon swinging gently by your side, “I fought the Demogorgon with this thing.”

Dustin’s jaw just drops with the very thought of his sister helping to lead the attack against the monster. He stutters as he comes to terms with it, “I knew you were there - I didn’t think you’d actually / _ fought/ _ it before! I guess you’ve earned my respect.”

You go to twirl the weapon between your fingers but it slips; the pipe clatters against the hardwood and Dustin simply sighs, “Never mind, that looks right.”

* * *

“There he is!” You whisper as you extend your finger outwards, guiding Dustin’s gaze to the stairs leading from the front door. He presses his face against the wooden gate, peering out to watch Dart follow the trail of lunch meat, nervous with anticipation of having to face the creature to trap it.

“Shit!” Dustin shouts suddenly, pulling you backwards and away from the door, much to your surprise, “What? What happened?”

“I think he saw me,” Dustin answers and you huff, looking up briefly as you silently pray this won’t be a mistake. That thing’s significantly smaller than what you were up against last fall - your sure both can take it. Absolutely positive.

“On my signal, we’re gonna go out there,” You say, tilting your head towards him. He watches your face expectantly as you hatch the plan, nodding along to your words, “You scare it, and I’ll knock it into the cellar-”

“Then we’ll close it up with the padlock,” Dustin finishes the thought; the corner of your lip curls up at his cleverness. 

“Precisely.”

You take a deep breath through the nose as you wait for Dart to approach the shed, while also wanting to make sure you have enough space to chase it away.

Dustin looks to you after a few seconds and you nod, pulling your weapon to an upright position as he swings the door open. Your brother charges forwards, screaming at the top of his lungs, and effectively scaring Dart. He staggers back and you yank Dustin out of the way before winding up for a hit. The blunt end of the pipe collides with the beast, and Dart gets sent flying down into the darkness of the cellar. 

Once you hear him hit the concrete floor, you and Dustin rush to close the metal latches - only barely able to do so before Dart sprints up the steps and smacks into the barrier. It’s only after the padlock is pulled from your pocket and the chains are clipped together that you finally take a moment to rest. 

You’re both still leaning with your full weight against the doors when Dustin pulls the goalie mask from his face, “You know, you should play softball.”

* * *

The sun beats down onto the back of your neck as you throw another shovelful of topsoil into the small grave. You wish that you had more time to do more for the little animal; it’s final moments must have been terrible.

You brush away a strand of hair from your sweat soaked forehead and you hear Dustin approach you - his shuffling through the fallen leaves gives him away.

“How’re we doing?” You ask without looking up, pushing your sneaker against the metal bill of the shovel. 

“Hopper’s still not answering,” Dustin comes into your line of sight as he starts to count on his fingers, “Erica turned off Lucas’ radio, and I have no idea where the hell Mike and Will are!”

He groans as he leans against one of the many trees in your yard, and you’re thankful that it’s hidden from the view of the street. You don’t know how kindly your neighbors would’ve taken to witnessing the chaos that happened today.

“Well,” You sigh, placing your weight on one hip, “We’re gonna need some help for when he molts again. And since we’ve only probably got forty-five minutes until the sun starts to set, I’ll stay here.”

“You sure you wanna be stuck here alone with Dart?” Dustin crosses his arms over his chest as he questions your plan. 

“Listen! I’ll keep watch, make sure that little rascal doesn’t escape into the wild or anything.”

Dustin pouts in your direction as he adjusts the headset over the top of his hat, “And who  _ exactly  _ should I go find to help us?” You continue shoveling dirt as you answer, “How about Joyce or Jonathan? See if they’re home.”

“I doubt that they’ll be around if Will isn’t,” Your brother’s sarcasm causes a slight smile to grow over your lips before you wave him away, “Go!”

* * *

“What the hell are you doing?” Dustin shouts once he sees that you had fallen asleep against the wall, scaring you conscious; he startles you enough to cause you to fall to the ground.

You barely slept a wink the previous night. The idea of /that thing/ being feet from your pillow while trying to rest caused you to toss and turn all night. 

Once you get your bearings, you look between the box you /were/ sitting on and the blinding beam from the flashlight your brother holds. Shielding your eyes, Dustin scoffs, “You were supposed to be keeping watch!”

“I / _ was/ _ keeping watch!” You fire back as you get to your feet, brushing your hands off on your jeans.

“Doesn’t look like it!” He responds, rolling his eyes at the annoyed look on your face. Dustin sighs before moving past you, gesturing behind him, “Whatever, okay? I got help.”

And as if destined by fate, or more like your shitty luck - it’s the person you’d least like to see.

“Hi.” 

The single word feels like it gets pushed from your throat, and it seems more like a courtesy than anything else. It’s primarily packed with guilt. 

You’re able to tell Steve isn’t thrilled to see you. Based on his stunned reaction to seeing you in front of him, it’s as if he didn’t expect to see you so soon. 

He can’t deny that it feels good to be near you again. Losing both Nancy and you within the short span of twelve hours was especially difficult. And then he thinks about why he pushed you away, and his gaze hardens at the thought of what you’ve done. 

Steve doesn’t respond to your lousy attempt to connect with him. He tightens his jaw and exhales through his nose before Dustin calls the both of you over. Steve breaks the tense eye contact first and you mentally thank your brother - you don’t know how long you would’ve stood there, frozen and terrified of what to say.

Steve hits the spiked bat against the doors to the cellar and when no noise occurs, he drifts his gaze up to you and silently expects an explanation. You extend your arm outwards, pointing the pipe in the direction of the trap you made, “He’s down there.”

And then Steve looks to Dustin, who’s taken a spot further away from the two of you, and he only shrugs his shoulders and gestures where you did.

Steve waits a few seconds after a second hit, quickly growing very suspicious of the authenticity of the situation, and then he turns to the both of you, “Listen, you two. If this is some sort of Halloween prank-”

“It’s not-” You interrupt, your tone growing extremely irritated. 

“You’re /both/ dead, alright?” Steve finishes and Dustin reiterates your response, “It’s not a prank, Jesus! I wouldn’t have brought you here if it wasn’t serious!” Steve sighs after realizing that even though you two might not be on the greatest of terms, there’s no reason for you to fake something regarding the Upside Down. He knows how uneasy the whole situation made you.

“Here, I’ve got the key,” Dustin adds. He briefly looks confused after noticing that both of his hands are full. He looks to you, “Uh, take these.”

Before Steve can intervene, your brother smacks a bouquet of roses into your chest. And judging from the older boy’s embarrassed expression, these were meant for Nancy. 

You feel your heart ache at the deduction - if he was going to apologize to her, was he ever intending on doing so to you? You don’t suppose so.

The flowers get tossed into the grass as Dustin opens the padlock and Steve yanks the chain through the latches. A burst of humid air is released once the doors to the cellar are opened, and neither you nor Steve can see anything past the first few steps.

“Bring that thing over here, will you?” You say, motioning for your brother to join you with the flashlight. His nervous hands shake the beam, prompting Steve to grab it from Dustin and shine it into the darkness. You both grow more confused when nothing jumps out at you.

Steve’s the one to express this, “I don’t see shit.” You hum in response, kneeling down next to him.

“He must be further down there,” Dustin answers, “So, I’ll stay up here in case, you know, he tries to escape.”

You and Steve turn your focus to him; your brow is raised and Steve’s glaring, shaking his head slightly. He’s been around this kid for a mere twenty minutes and he’s already getting on his nerves. Steve starts to understand where your playful disdain for your brother comes from.

You clear your throat as you stand up, gripping your weapon tighter in your palm. Your other hand moves out to Steve, fingers wiggling to catch his attention, “Alright, gimme the flashlight.” 

And Steve’s face rapidly changes into one of concern as he looks up at you, both your features illuminated in the glow of the moon. “Woah, hold on. There’s no way in hell you’re going down there by yourself.”

Your gaze snaps to him as he straightens beside you, “What are you talking about? I can take that thing.”

“Well, not if he molted again,” Dustin mutters, and you groan in frustration at his comment. 

“Dustin, I swear to God-”

“What? It’s the truth!”

Steve gestures to where your brother stands without looking away from you, “I might have no idea what that means, but four of us were barely able to take on a fully grown one last year.” 

You clench down on your teeth as you let his point sink in, and know that you could never refuse the look on his face, even if it’s a more hardened version of what you’re used to.

You nod curtly, “Fine.”

Steve breathes a little easier at your approval and you start the descent downward, with him just a step behind. Your eyes take a moment to adjust to the darkness, blinking rapidly to speed up the process.

Your adrenaline is pumping fast through your veins, heightening all of your senses; you speak up once Steve has guided the flashlight to all four corners of the room, “You see anything?”

“No, you?”

“Nothing-” Your thought is interrupted as your shoe comes in contact with a slick and soft object, and Steve pulls the cord to the hanging bulb above your heads. You shut your eyelids in disgust at the noise it makes as you pull your foot away, feeling chills run up your spine as Steve moves to inspect it.

“Please don’t tell me what I think it is,” You plead, finally giving in to your curiosity. It’s exactly what you thought - another empty skin left by Dart.

Steve shines the flashlight onto the dripping wet surface of it, balanced on the tip of the bat. The substance’s practically identical to what was in the terrarium yesterday, except there’s over double of it this time.

“Uh, Y/N?” Steve’s worried voice brings your attention away and over to the wall, where his eyes are trained on a mess of dirt and cinder blocks - they’ve been pulled away from the foundation to create an escape route, digging right back into town. You curse under your breath as you go to approach it, signaling for him to grab Dustin.

It doesn’t take long for the three of you to be huddled around the opening, filled to the brim with worry. Steve sighs once he realizes how far it goes, “So, what do we do now?” 

You swallow the lump in your throat after running a hand down your face, “Tomorrow. We deal with it then.”


End file.
